A Place of Refuge
by Suki-Itami
Summary: She was supposed to be just an experiment. A killing machine for the Sound. The last thing Orochimaru expected was for his "precious" experiment to develop like a normal girl and want a life of her own.


"Kana-Chan!" Teyuya shouted from the top of a nearby building.

"Yes, Teyuya-San?" Kana sighed, scratching the back of her head.

Teyuya sighed and jumped down from the building, looking at this teenage girl that was supposed to be Orochimaru's heir. Kana had short black hair with shoulder length bangs, her purple eyes held no remorse – just like Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-Sama has been looking for you everywhere." Teyuya said. "He's getting on my last nerve, now get back to the mansion!"

Kana sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face for a moment, revealing the red snake tattoo on the right side of her face. It stretched from the middle of her forehead down to the middle of her cheek. Her nearly snow-white skin reflected beautifully off the full moon.

"Chichi is **way** too protective!" Kana sighed.

"He has reason to be, Kana-Chan, you're his one and only heir!" Teyuya said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Kana sighed yet again and shook her head. "Damn! I was just about to go spar with Kimmimaru-Sempai again."

Teyuya sighed too. "Orochimaru-Sama told you to **not** spar with Kimmimaru-Kun!"

Kana shrugged and rested her arm one of the katana that she happily carried around. One around her waist, another attached to her back. She wore a black tank top and black capris, a purple rope serving as a belt.

Teyuya pointed toward the direction of the Sound Village mansion and said, "Go. Now."

Kana sighed and started walking towards the mansion, shuffling her feet the entire way. She wore her old worn out closed toe zori while sparing, and she was wearing them now. She knew dragging them in the dirt was not a good thing to be doing, but didn't care.

Kana walked into the mansion, taking off her zori at the door. "Chichi, I'm home!"

"Kana-Chan!" Kabuto said as he walked into the main room, where Kana was standing.

"Kabuto-Sensei?" Kana was shocked to see him there at the moment. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be taking over some village for Chichi?"

Kabuto shook his head. "That village was too strong for even your father to handle. Orochimaru-Sama cannot move his arms…plus he kinda brought a homicidal child back with us."

"Huh?"

Kabuto sighed and led Kana to a room near where hers was. They walked in and there sat a boy with pale skin and dark blue hair on the edge of the bed.

"Who's he?"

"Uchiha Sasuke-Kun." Kabuto said.

Sasuke looked over at Kabuto and Kana and spit at Kana. "You'll be lucky to be alive another week."

Kana looked over at Kabuto. "What the hell?!"

"Like I said, homicidal." Kabuto laughed.

Kana just shook her head and walked over to Orochimaru's room, where he laid in pain. "Chichi?"

Orochimaru looked over at Kana. "Where were you?"

"Not here, obviously."

Orochimaru sighed. "Were you going to go spar with Kimmimaru-Kun again?"

"Maybe…"

"I told you **not** to!"

"I don't care! I need more training, and Kabuto-Sensei's not helping!"

"Then I'll have him train you more."

Kana sighed again. "Fine…"

"Also, about Sasuke-Kun…"

"He's crazy! Why'd you bring him **here**?!"

"He's essential for you to inherit the village."

Kana shook her head. "No! I'm not marrying that creep! Besides that, I'm only fifteen!"

"No!" Orochimaru sighed. "He'll be your bodyguard."

"Like Kabuto-Sensei's your 'bodyguard'…?" Kana asked, not so sure. "You're **both** sexual deviants!"

"You can't call me that!"

"I just did! Besides, you can't hit me, your arms are useless!" Kana shouted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Orochimaru sighed in frustration. "Go to your room!"

"With pleasure." Kana said, bowing and walking to her room.

Kana leaned her two katana against the wall directly next to bed. She sighed and laid down on her bed, blankly staring at the dark gray ceiling. Kana wasn't sure what to do, after all she was Orochimaru one and only biological child, and was expected to inherit the village if Orochimaru died. She knew that she didn't have a mother, Orochimaru had to stress that quite a lot when Kana was a child. Only recently, though, Kana learned that she was the result of an experiment Orochimaru and Kabuto tried fifteen years ago. The result – Kana – wasn't exactly what they were expecting, but it worked. The snake tattoo on her face was Kabuto's personal touch once he and Orochimaru were sure she was gonna live a full life. She was only two when she received the tattoo.

Kana rolled onto her side and looked at her two katana sadly. _Hell katana, the angels of the devil…_

Kana stood up and drew one katana from its sheathe, holding it up against the moonlight that was pouring in from a window. It was forged from white steel, the purest steel on Earth. Yet, it had been used to make a hell katana. She sighed again and resheathed it, drawing her other katana. This katana had been forged from black steel, the strongest and the least likely to fail in a combat situation.

Kana resheathed this katana and stared up at the moon. "If there **is** an afterlife for me, I hope it's on the moon." She looked back over at her katana, remembering how she came across them.

…

"_Dammit!" Kana shouted, falling to her knees. She had been fighting for nearly five hours and it had exhausted her._

_Kana had taken refuge behind a nearby tree, hoping the enemy didn't see her there. She was fighting a ninja from the Sand, and it was her first opponent. Her father had just left her to fight the Sand Ninja alone. Kana was nearly out of chakra and energy._

_Kana looked over at a nearby tree directly across from her, two katana were lodged in the tree. She stood up slowly, her legs shaking, and walked over to the tree. When she reached where the two katana were, she found a small note attached to the pure white one._

_To finder of the White Angel and the Dark Angel,_

_Let ultimate power and destruction come to you…_

_Kana didn't think after reading the note, she just grabbed the hilts of the two katana and pulled them out of the tree. She suddenly felt a surge of power, her chakra came completely back and her energy was restored._

_Kana looked at the two katana she held and turned around when she heard someone approach._

"_Hiding now, were we…?" The Sand Ninja asked, performing hand signs._

_Kana swung the Dark Angel and then the White Angel as she yelled, "Twin Hell-Fire Dragons!"_

…

Kana turned around as she heard her door open, snapping out of her daydream. There in her doorway stood Sasuke, looking as pissed as ever.

"What do **you** want?!" Kana shouted back at him.

Sasuke walked over to Kana and grabbed her arm. "You have to leave."

"What? Can you repeat that?" Kana asked, confused.

"You have to leave." Sasuke repeated.

"Why?" Kana pulled her arm away from Sasuke. "This is my home, I can't just leave. Chichi wouldn't all—"

"You don't want to rule this village." Sasuke said, cutting Kana off.

Kana unsheathed the Dark Angel and pointed it directly at Sasuke's chest. "How could you know anything about me?"

Sasuke stayed still and said, "I can see it in your eyes."

Kana sighed and shook her head. "I want to leave, you would never know how badly…but I'm the only heir to this village. If I were to leave, Chichi would never stop hunting me. He would destroy me for disobeying his orders to not leave the village."

Sasuke smiled. "Then, let me offer you an escape."

This interested Kana. "Tell me!"

"Put up your katana and we'll talk."

Kana resheathed the Dark Angel. "Now, tell me!"

…

"Teyuya-San!" Kabuto shouted, running up to Teyuya.

Teyuya turned around at the sound of Kabuto's voice. "Kabuto-Kun? Aren't you supposed to be with Orochimaru-Sama?"

"Uchiha Sasuke-Kun has escaped his room." Kabuto said quickly. "If Orochimaru-Sama knew, you could count on some funerals."

"You let him escape?!"

"No! He somehow slipped out!"

Teyuya sighed and ran back into the mansion. "I'll go warn Kana-Chan."

Kabuto nodded and ran into the village.

Teyuya ran up the stairs and into Kana's room. "Kana-Chan, Uchiha…Sasuke-Kun…?"

Sasuke turned at the sound of Teyuya's voice; he had Kana held up by her throat. Teyuya made a few shadow clones and managed to get Kana away from Sasuke while recapturing him.

Kana coughed and gasped for breath. "Bastard!"

Sasuke laughed as he was led away by Teyuya's clones and back to his room.

Teyuya turned to Kana. "Kana-Chan, are you okay?"

Kana nodded and leaned back against her wall. "I'm fine. I wasn't expecting him, that's all."

Teyuya sighed in relief. "That was close, Kana-Chan. It's a good thing I came when I did."

Kana sighed and stood up. "Oh well, it wouldn't have mattered anyway."

"What?!"

Kana looked directly at Teyuya. "I know I can trust you, you're the only person in the village who treats me like a person… I'm tired of being here, it's too exhausting."

"Exhausting?"

Kana nodded. "I don't want to inherit this village from Chichi, I just want a normal life."

"You can't have that!" Kabuto said, walking in.

"Kabuto-Sensei!"

"Teyuya-San, leave!" Kabuto ordered.

Teyuya nodded and left the room.

Kabuto shut the door to Kana's room and looked at her. "Kana-Chan, you're the only heir this village has! You can't leave; you have to live this way! Just face it!"

"I can't just 'face it'! I don't like the life I have here!" Kana shouted close to Kabuto's face.

Kabuto slapped Kana across the face and yelled, "You have to face it! Because, whether you like it or not, you're all your father has left! Besides, no matter where you go, you're nothing more than the result of an iffy experiment. You will **never** have a normal life."

Kana grabbed one of her katana and hit Kabuto in the face with the hilt. "I'm not gonna listen to you! You've degraded me ever since you came into my life!"

Kabuto shook his head. "I do not!"

"Lying son-of-a-bitch! Just go away!" Kana said, drawing the White Angel. "You know what power my katana hold!"

Kabuto slowly backed out of Kana's room and she locked the door quickly after he left. She sighed and resheathed her Katana, turning on her CD Player to her burned Nickelback CD.

…

_How the hell'd we wind up like this?_

_Why weren't we able _

_To see the signs that we missed_

_And try to turn the tables…?_

_I wish you'd unclench your fists_

_And unpack your suitcase_

_Lately there's been too much of this_

_But don't it's too late_

_Nothing's wrong_

_Just as long_

_As you know that someday I will_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_Well I'd hope that since we're here anyway_

_That we could end up saying things_

_We always needed to say_

_So we could end up staying_

_Now the story's played out like this_

_Just like a paperback novel_

_Lets rewrite an ending that fits_

_Instead of a Hollywood horror_

_Nothing's wrong_

_Just as long_

_As you know that someday I will_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that…)_

_How the hell'd we wind up like this?_

_Why weren't we able _

_To see the signs that we missed_

_And try to turn the tables…?_

_Now the story's played out like this_

_Just like a paperback novel_

_Lets rewrite an ending that fits_

_Instead of a Hollywood horror_

_Nothing's wrong_

_Just as long_

_As you know that someday I will_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_Someday, somehow_

_I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_I know you're wondering when_

_(You're the only one who knows that)_

_I know you're wondering when_

…

Kana sighed and stared at the ceiling as "If Everyone Cared" started playing. _Someday, somehow, I'll escape this place!_

After about five minutes, Kana crawled under the covers of her bed and closed her eyes. _Maybe Sasuke-San was right; maybe I should go there._

It didn't take long before Kana was asleep; her dreams took her back to her conversation with Sasuke.

…

_Kana sat down on the edge of her bed, willing to listen to what Sasuke had to say._

"_I can offer you an escape from this place, a place of refuge from your father and the village." Sasuke said, looking down at Kana._

"_Really? You'll give that to me?" Kana asked, not really able to believe him._

_Sasuke nodded. "To escape this place, you have to go to a place far more stronger." He pulled out a picture from his front pocket. It was of him, a blonde-haired guy in orange, Copy-Cat Ninja Kakashi, and a pink-haired girl in red._

"_What do these other ninja have to do with it?" Kana asked, sighing._

_Sasuke put the picture in her hands. "Konohagakure, the Village Hidden In The Leaves. That village is the one I came from, and everyone there prevented the 'snake' from taking over."_

_Kana touched the red snake tattoo on her face. "They won't allow me there, it's obvious where I come from."_

_Sasuke smiled. "Show this picture to Godaime Hokage when you get there and she'll let you slide into Konoha as if you were always a ninja of that place."_

_Kana sighed and shoved the picture into her pocket. "Maybe, I don't know."_

_Sasuke shrugged. "Also, forgive me."_

"_Huh?"_

_Sasuke grabbed Kana's throat, holding her in midair as Teyuya ran in._

…

Kana woke up as she felt something in the room make the air fluctuate as it entered. She sat up quickly and looked over as her father and Kabuto poofed into the room.

"Chichi? Kabuto-Sensei?" Kana was confused as to their sudden appearance.

Kabuto walked over to Kana and slapped her. "That was from Orochimaru-Sama."

Kana looked over at Orochimaru. "What do you want this late at night?!"

"Kabuto-Kun tells me that you want to leave this village." Orochimaru said, angry.

"So what? I'm a teenager, I don't like staying in one place." Kana shrugged.

"That's not what you said to Teyuya-San! You said this place was exhausting and that you wanted to leave!" Kabuto said, also angry.

Kana sighed, glaring at her father and Kabuto. "Will you just leave?! We'll discuss this in the morning!" She lay back down on her side, facing the wall.

Kabuto grabbed the back of Kana's shirt and forced her off of her bed, grabbing her neck to make her stand up. "Listen to your lord!"

"He's nothing more than my Chichi. And he sucks at that!" Kana said boldly, spitting in Kabuto's face.

Kabuto punched Kana right in her left eye, letting her fall uselessly to the ground. "Orochimaru-Sama?"

Orochimaru nodded, walking towards the door. "Open the door for me… Just don't kill her."

Kabuto nodded and opened the door for Orochimaru, locking it once he was gone.

Kana grabbed both of her katana, unsheathing them and pointing them directly at Kabuto. "I **will** use them! And I **will** kill you!"

Kabuto looked over at her, smirking. "Come on, you were nearly killed by Sasuke-Kun today. Do you honestly think you'll be treated any better in a different village?"

Kana hung her head, still holding her katana steady. "It doesn't matter… I've survived here all this time, I'll survive anywhere I go!"

Kabuto sighed and threw four kunai knives, pinning Kana to the wall by her arms. The two katana dropped uselessly to the floor as their master was suddenly pinned to the wall behind her. Kana screamed in pain as the kunai knives pierced through skin, veins, and nerves.

Kabuto approached Kana, still smirking. "You know, your katana would be good in a trained hand." He tried picking up the Dark Angel, but it shocked him with nearly a thousand volts of electricity.

Kana laughed a little through the severe pain Kabuto had already caused her. "You'll never wield the Hell Angels. You're not the chosen owner."

Kabuto was on his back on the floor, twitching in pain as the electricity from the Hell Angels still coursed through his body. Kana managed to get herself down from the wall and sat on the ground, trying to catch her breath.

Kana moved her right arm slowly over to her left arm to try and get the kunai knives out of her arms. She gripped the kunai knife in her shoulder and pulled it out of her arm swiftly, not hesitating for one second. Kana suppressed the urge to scream, it wasn't hard to do after all this time, but it hurt worse than usual. She knew better than to scream in this place. The kunai knife had pierced directly through the nerves in her shoulder, almost severing them completely.

Kana reached over with her left arm and pulled out the other kunai knife from her shoulder. This time, she did scream in pain, the kunai knife had completely severed through her nerves and part of a major artery in her shoulder. Kana dropped her right arm uselessly to the floor as it bled at a near unstoppable rate.

Kana reached over with her left arm again and pulled out the kunai knife that had lodged itself into her right wrist. She pulled this one out with no hesitation as well, throwing it aside once it was free of her arm.

Kana leaned her head against the wall and found herself short of breath, she just couldn't breathe at all. _I just wanted a place of refuge… I just wanted to escape. _Tears escaped Kana's eyes as she looked back over at her right arm, now covered completely in blood. _I guess I was just destined to live and die here…_

Kana looked over at the door and closed her eyes, blacking out. She hoped that death would take her then.

…

Unfortunately, for her, death didn't want her. Kana woke up two days later in massive pain. Her arms were bandaged from her wrists up to the severe end of her shoulders.

Kana looked around the familiar room and sighed. Death hadn't taken her, death hadn't wanted her that particular night. Kana sat up slowly and looked at the ground where she had been sitting that night. The blood on the ground was faint, as if somebody had tried cleaning it all up but couldn't. She looked over at her katana; they were still in the same place as they were that night. Nobody could pick them up or risk getting shocked with nearly a thousand volts of electricity.

Kana stood up slowly and walked over to the Hell Angels, picking them up and resheathing them. _I wonder who bandaged my wounds… Kabuto-Sensei wouldn't have after what the Hell Angels did to him, he couldn't… Chichi can't use his arms… And nobody else in the village knows about my beatings. I wonder…_

Just then, as Kana was thinking, Sasuke walked into her room.

"It's about time you woke up." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Kana turned around at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "Sasuke-San!"

"It's alright if I call you Kana-Chan, right…?"

Kana nodded.

"Kana-Chan…" Sasuke bowed. "You are now Kana-Sama."

"What?!"

Sasuke stood up straight and smiled. "Your father didn't even see me come in, that pathetic Sensei of yours was too shaken up from something to stop me."

"He got hit with near of a thousand volts of electricity."

"… From what?"

Kana pointed over to the Hell Angels. "My katana chose me as their owner, nobody else can touch them."

Sasuke made a mental note to not try to take the two katana. "Now, about Konohagakure… You still considering it?"

Kana smiled herself. "Considering? I've made my choice. Take me to this village, I'm not staying here."

"Good choice. Either way, you're dead to the villagers." Sasuke said, shrugging.

"Huh?"

"I might've told them that their beloved 'royal family' was killed and I took over."

Kana nodded. "Clever, Sasuke-Sama."

Sasuke shrugged. "Kana-Chan, I've call together a meeting to discuss the so-called 'defenses' of the village. During that time, make your way southwest until you come across the Village Hidden In The Leaves."

"Konohagakure?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, Konohagakure." He grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, drawing the baby leaf on the paper. "This is the symbol on the headbands there… You'll know when you've arrived."

Kana nodded and reached for the Sound headband she never wore, stopping right before grabbing it. She sighed. "I'm so used to wearing it on assassination missions."

"Unless you prefer death, I don't suggest bringing up where you're from." Sasuke handed Kana a mask. "And you might want to wear that once you leave this place."

Kana looked at the mask, it was pure white and would cover the red snake tattoo completely. "Would the tattoo give me away?"

Sasuke nodded. "I'm sure that even the slightly semblance of a snake on your body would give the villagers reason to want you dead. Tsunade-Sama wouldn't be happy either."

"Who?"

"She's the current, living, Hokage. Godaime Hokage."

"Okay." Kana put the mask on and looked in the mirror.

The mask she wore covered the entire right side of her face. There was only a hole for her eye; it was in the shape a snake's eye, a diamond blood lusting shape.

Kana faced Sasuke again. "When do I leave?"

Sasuke smirked and walked out of her door. "In a few minutes. Gather what you need."

Kana grabbed the Hell Angels first, putting the White Angel on her back and the Dark Angel on her side. It was right then that Sasuke ran right back into her room and told her to go.

Kana didn't even think about grabbing anything else, she just opened her window and left. She ran for the southern gate and only ran faster when she was out of the village. Kana stopped after a minute of stepping outside of the Sound Village's gate, she looked back and felt no sadness as she knew she would never come back. In fact, she felt happier than she could've ever thought she would be.

Kana turned towards the southwest and continued running in that direction, towards the Leaf Village.

…

Meanwhile, in Konohagakure, Shino Aburame looked up at the clear blue sky. He closed his eyes, though nobody could've noticed behind his sunglasses, and started thinking.

Shino heard the sound of the nearby river and felt relaxed for the first time in nearly a week.

"_I'm sorry, Shino, I didn't realize what you would think of me!"_ A girl wept in Shino's head, this had been going on for the past few days.

Shino shook his head and looked over at the river, the water moved slowly, leaving a soft and serene sound in it's wake.

"_I love you, I would **never** want to hurt you!"_ The girl kept weeping in his head.

Shino sighed. The girl sounded like the river to him, so he hoped that if he came to the river, the voices would stop but it just made it more louder and clearer.

"Shino-Kun!" Hinata shouted from the top of a nearby hill.

"Come on, man, Kurenai-Sensei's gonna be pissed if we're late!" Kiba shouted after Hinata.

Shino turned around and started walking towards his teammates. "I'm coming, just wait."

As Shino walked up the hill though, the voice sounded again, more faintly this time. _"I thought you loved me! How could you…"_

The voice faded away as Shino reached the top of the hill with his teammates. The three started walking away from the river and towards the training grounds.

Shino glanced back at the river, knowing that whoever the girl was weeping in his head, that the river would be significant somehow. _I will meet you… I won't judge you, I won't be mad at you… Whoever that girl is, she'll be the only one I know who could honestly tell me they loved me._

Next Time;

The Snake Girl & The Bug Boy:

Kana reaches Konohagakure and immediately runs to Hokage Tower, only to be stopped by a bug-tamer named Aburame Shino.


End file.
